The Seal of Oblivion (11 page)

“Centuries?” both Sakura and Laqiya
asked.

“We’ve been keeping it safe for
you, but I didn’t recognize you earlier. I should have, but even still you
passed.”

“Passed what?” Laqiya asked, but
Valon didn’t answer, only sighing as he inspected the burnt remains of the
tree.

“Do you know how old this tree
was?” Valon asked sighing.

“What were we supposed to do? It
attacked us,” Sakura exclaimed.

“It’s done now,” Valon said rolling
his eyes a little. “I guess I should lead you two out of here. The sooner you
and your class leave, the sooner I can assess the damage.”

“It was your fault…” Sakura
muttered as the two followed him out the dimension.

Laqiya could tell when they crossed
the veil, this time intentionally on the lookout for it. Not very long after
they had crossed the threshold, they were back on the path, right on time to
slip in behind their class, whom were heading back to the building.

“You might want to put that away first,”
Valon said to Laqiya.

“Oh yeah,” Laqiya said putting the
piece in her book bag. She turned to look at Valon. “Sorry about earlier by the
way.
You alright?”

Valon only looked at her and then
said, “You’re different.”

“Different?” Laqiya asked but Sakura
pulled her away to catch up with their class.

“Wait a minute,” Laqiya said
glancing back to see Valon gone. “What did he mean different?”

Sakura either didn’t hear her or
didn’t care, and now that they were back with the group it would be too risky
to run back and ask Valon. Instead she sighed and dryly said, “Boo,” to Adria
and Isis who were right in front of them.

They turned to look at her.

“Where have you been?” Adria
demanded.

“I’ll tell you on the bus,” Laqiya
whispered. “
Where’s
Nightshield and Chasity?”

“Right here,” the woman said
standing near the front exit with her hands in her pocket. “Where did you go?”

“You’re the one who let her go,”
Isis said.

“Yeah.
Nightshield nearly had a conniption. But seriously, where did you go?” Adria
asked.

Laqiya didn’t answer and only kept
heading back for the bus. When they were settled in their seats a few minutes
later, Nightshield turned to her with at stern expression she always gave and
asked, “Now where did you—”

Laqiya flipped the flap of her book
bag open, revealing the staff piece.

Nightshield abruptly dropped her
stern expression and asked instead, “Where in the world…?”

“It’s beautiful,” Adria said.

“So that’s what you were sensing,”
Isis said.

“Figures,” Chasity Pearl replied
leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes, not all too excited.
“Plainshield’s going to flip when she finds out you got it and she wasn’t here
to see it.”

Chapter
Eight

The
Anaxars

Laqiya stood behind the exit of her
school trying to figure out which guardian was outside. It wasn’t Nightshield,
for she could hardly ever detect the woman. She opened the door and said,
“Plainshield.”

“How’d you know it was me?” the
feline woman asked jumping from where she was on the roof.

“Lucky guess,” Laqiya replied.

“You’re out of school early.”

“The principal dismissed me to
pacify a teacher’s ego.”

“What did you do?”

“Roll my eyes at him for being
stupid.”

“No respect for authority much?’
Plainshield asked.

“He was being stupid,” Laqiya
repeated and then asked, “What—”

“Give you three guesses?”
Plainshield said cutting off the girl’s question.

“Where is Nightshield?”

“At the palace
filling in for me.
I wanted a break; though I’m sure she won’t be any
closer to finding where that staff piece is than I was. I’m better with
computers than Nightshield. She’s the better battle tactician.”

“Why are you here though? You don’t
usually come and attach yourself to my hip pocket. That’s Nightshield.”

Plainshield shrugged “Where else am
I supposed to go in this city? I don’t feel like getting lost today and being a
curious cat.”

“But that’s exactly what you are
even as a grown… How old are you?”

Plainshield raised an eyebrow and
looked at her. “What’s it to you?”

“I just wanted to know.”

“In that case I’m something,
something years old,” Plainshield said.

“Are you that old?” Laqiya teased
raising an eyebrow.

“I’m twenty-five.”

“How many earth years does that
translate into?”

“No. I really am twenty-five.”

Laqiya paused. “Wait. Are you serious?
Then how…?”

Plainshield was silent as she
walked off the school ground with Laqiya behind her.

“Is Plainshield your real name?”
Laqiya asked.

“What’s with you playing twenty
questions?”

Laqiya hesitated before she said,
“The real reason I got in trouble was for ignoring my teacher. I’ve been
unfocused all day.”

“What is it?” Plainshield turned to
her with a serious gaze.

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Don’t lie.”

“You and Nightshield need to work
on your intimidations tactics. My mother’s scarier,” said Laqiya.

Plainshield stopped walking and put
a hand on Laqiya’s shoulder.
“Seriously.
What is it?”

After a long pause Laqiya said,
“I’ve just had this feeling all day is all… like I’m being watched. This isn’t
the first time I’ve had it.”

“What do you mean?”

Laqiya had been suspecting it for a
while now. There was just no way to explain the cold fear that gripped her
heart when she thought about it, when she sensed them near. How else could she
be so terrified of something she didn’t even know about, hadn’t had a real
encounter with?

“Halloween wasn’t the first time I
met the Anaxars and even though I remember them stalking me and Nightshield, I
don’t think that’s all. I know something about them, something they did or do.
I just don’t know what,” Laqiya replied.

“In this
lifetime?”
Plainshield asked.

Laqiya gave Plainshield a sideways
glance. Plainshield sighed.

“Alright.
Definitely this lifetime,” she said and then continued, “But what’s got you so
focused on them. No offense, but you usually try to steer clear of anything to
do with the White Rose unless you really need to get involved.”

“I found out something about them.
Anaxaretes and Anaxars are their English names. Their old name is long since
lost, but it was rumored they were descendants of Satan himself. Anyway, they
were named after a woman in Greek myth who heartlessly broke some guy’s heart.
Apparently, legends say they’re known for the same ruthlessness and cruelty.”

“Where did you find that out?”

“A book,” Laqiya said vaguely
though it was actually the book she had gotten from Nana. She had been
translating it when she came across the characters for the Anaxars and the
Anaxaretes and then proceeded to copy the entire passage. “It’s been haunting
me for a while. I hate it. I hate not remembering…”

Laqiya sat on a bench not too far
from the school to wait on the rest of her friends, not noticing the
penetrating look Plainshield was giving her.

“Remembering what?”

Laqiya blinked out her stupor,
saying “Nothing.”

Plainshield sat down next to her.

“All I know is they worked under
the Tyrant’s mistresses. They were very powerful though, even superior over the
mistresses in some cases,” Plainshield whispered and then added, “
especially
when it came to a certain white cloaked heroine.”

Laqiya made a face in disgust at
that name and Plainshield laughed.

“Get used to those names. You’ll
get a lot of them.”

“I’m not the White Rose.”

“And I’m not—” Plainshield stopped
and her feline eyes narrowed.

“What?”

“Shh…” she said and looked around. “Something
feels wrong.”

“You mean that feeling that someone
is watching?” Laqiya asked knowingly.

Plainshield nodded and looked at
the construction site across the street. Laqiya followed her gaze. It looked
like a project had been started but since abandoned with concrete blocks for
the foundation stacked everywhere, metal beams, a metal structure, and several
types of dump trucks. But it was the distinct presence of the Anaxars that
caught her attention.

“Hey
Plainshield.”

 
Plainshield almost jumped out of her skin
after hearing Adria’s voice. Laqiya put her hand over her mouth to hide her
snickers.

“That would have never worked on
Nightshield,” Adria said also trying to hide a grin.

“Shut up. I’m technically not
trained for field stuff,” Plainshield muttered.

“Where are Isis and Sakura?” Laqiya
asked.

“Sakura’s staying after school for
some reason, and Isis is doing some kind of reading for an assignment that
isn’t due for two weeks.”

Laqiya rolled her eyes. “How
typical of her…”

“Since half of our group is missing
then, where are we going?” Chasity Pearl asked jumping out of a tree.

Laqiya looked across the street at
the construction site again saying, “What’s that construction lot over there?”

Adria shrugged. “It was supposed to
be something for the school. Somebody embezzled some funds though and the
project was cancelled until further notice. It’s just there now. Why?”

“We think the Anaxars have been
watching us from over there,” Plainshield said.

“Watching us?
Since
when?”
Adria asked.

“Weeks now,” Laqiya replied.

“Weeks!”
Adria said. “And you didn’t think it was important to tell anyone?”

“Isis knew. Besides, they haven’t
done anything. What would have been the point of being worried about it?”
Laqiya asked.

Plainshield started across the
street. Laqiya started and then asked, “Where are you going?”

“I think we should go see what they
want. If they’ve been watching us they want something, and I have a feeling
they’re still there,” Plainshield said.

“Are you nuts?” Laqiya snapped in a
whisper. “Last time we saw them they almost killed us.”

“Not to mention they’re weird,”
Adria said shuddering a little. “They give me the creeps, like that guy in the
movie about the man who raped and murdered that girl.”

Laqiya certainly agreed with Adria
on that one.

“Then you all stay here. I’ll be
right back,” Plainshield said.

Laqiya looked at Adria, who
shrugged helplessly. Laqiya groaned, briefly covering her face with her hands
before following Plainshield. At least if the Anaxars did decide to attack, a
stroke of dumb luck with her powers might save them all. Laqiya nodded for
Adria and Chasity to follow.

While Plainshield was naturally
light on her feet and didn’t have to put much effort into being quiet, Adria,
Laqiya, and Chasity Pearl had to watch every step and piece of gravel they
walked on. Further ahead of them, Plainshield had already stopped and was
crouched behind one of the large dump trucks.

“Plainshield, what are you doing?”

Plainshield hushed them and ushered
them over. The other three made their way over and ducked behind the truck. Not
sure exactly where she was looking though, Adria asked, “What?”

“Look,” Chasity Pearl said.

Laqiya sucked in a sharp breath
when she looked in the direction Chasity Pearl had nodded off in. The Anaxars
were lounging around the lot, looking much less menacing in the light of day
than at night. Their combat boots, denim pants, fitted tank tops, and leather
vest jackets were three different colors each; one dark gold, another dark
crystal blue, the other dark emerald green. Aurian had golden blonde hair tied
back in a ponytail that fell right below his shoulder. Delsaream’s hair was
short, green, and spiked. And Kailash had blue silky hair that was cut short in
the back and left side while reaching his chin on the right side.

“You know,” Adria said tilting her
head. “If they weren’t evil perverts, I’d say they were kind of cute.”

“Adria!”
Laqiya said aghast.

“I’m just saying…” Adria said
sinking down a little.

“Be quiet,” Chasity Pearl said.

“Damn Sahajah. If this was the
Tyrant we had been dealing with, that little girl would already by dead, and we
wouldn’t be spying on her from a damn construction site,” Kailash snapped.

Aurian raised his palm and a burst
of energy came out of nowhere and hit a large metal beam embedded in the
ground. It didn’t shift out of the ground, but was cut clean in half.

“At least our powers are coming
back,” Delsaream said making a rose grow out the ground. Thorns grew up around
it, choking the delicate flower.

“You see a bright side to all
this,” said Kailash snapped looking in the sky and kicking at the ground. The
clouds shifted and clumped together and then it began to rain, hard. “I used to
be able to cause hurricanes and tsunamis. Now all I can do is make it rain.
That’s not power.”

Chasity Pearl used her wings to try
to cover them as best she could, but Laqiya hardly noticed the sudden downpour.
Tsunamis and hurricanes?
Just how powerful were the
Anaxars?

“Get over it Kailash. The best part
of defeat is revenge. We’ll have ours when we bring back the Tyrant,” Aurian
said creating a dome over himself to keep the rain from falling on him. “It’s
too bad really. That little flower is a pretty little thing now… Wonder how
she’ll look when she finally fully blossoms…”

Laqiya shuddered.

“Hm,” Kailash said. “She’s okay.
But that little Asian girl is feisty.”

“Ugh,” Adria muttered. “Are they
serious?”

The rain stopped, and Kailash
punched a bulldozer saying, “I want her beg. I want her to beg for mercy when I
kill her.” He closed his eyes. “I want to break her.”

He backed away from the bulldozer,
with his eyes still closed and then muttered, “Water.” A water twister,
essentially a cyclone, came down from the sky and engulfed the bulldozer.

“Mind,” Auria added and an
invisible force joined and expanded Kailaish’s twister.

“Earth,” Delsaream added and a
twister of twigs and mud followed.

The three powers combined caused
the wind to blow, the dirt to become disturbed, and a stack of concrete blocks
to tip over. Laqiya and Adria ducked down, covering their faces to avoid dust
getting in their eyes.

Then the wind died down, signaling
to them that the Anaxars had released their hold on their respective forces.
The two girls sat back up and looked at the bulldozer. Adria put a hand over
her mouth to muffle a yelp, while Laqiya’s jaw dropped in awe. Holes and large
scratches marred the bulldozer and the wrecking ball looked like it had been
eaten away by steel eating termites.

Kailash cursed. “There was a time
we could do that and there wouldn’t be a trace of that piece of junk left.”

“It is frustrating, but just wait.
Everything I’m going to do to that whore will be worth the wait,” Aurian
snapped.

Delsaream huffed. “I don’t want to
wait. I want it now.”

“Barking about it like a dog won’t
help,” Aurian said in a dry tone and then said, “You know pretty flower, you
don’t have to admire from afar. You can come out now.”

“How did he know?” Adria whispered
ducking down behind the truck.

“It’s hard to hide that bright
presence from anyone,” said Kailash turning away from the bulldozer. He
disappeared and then reappeared in front of Laqiya who screamed in fright as he
grabbed her. They disappeared and reappeared back in front of the bulldozer.

Kailash wasn’t trying very hard to
restrain Laqiya, and when she tried to pull away, he let go. She fell, hitting
her head against the bulldozer.

“Laqiya,” Adria yelled jumping down
from the truck and starting to make her way over.

“Where you
going?”
Aurian asked reaching out his arm to grab Adria by the waist as she
tried to get by.

“Let go of me,” Adria said balling
her fist and upper cutting him, the strength of which took Arian by surprise.
Aurian let her go, hand going to his jaw, giving Adria the chance to check on
Laqiya who was rubbing her head, steely amber eyes trained on Kailash.

“Angry?” he asked.

The dump truck Laqiya and Adria had
just been leaning on lifted off the ground and soared Kailash and Delsaream’s
way. They teleported out the way and the truck crashed into the steel frame to
the side of them.